


Four Walls, Two Hearts

by ladyofdecember



Category: The Simpsons
Genre: Angst, M/M, Nuclear Power Plant, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-05
Updated: 2017-05-05
Packaged: 2018-10-28 10:50:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10829751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyofdecember/pseuds/ladyofdecember
Summary: After work one night at the plant, Lenny and Carl find themselves in an uncomfortable situation.





	Four Walls, Two Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at writing Lenny and Carl and my first attempt at writing a Simpsons fic period! I absolutely adore these two and their strange, will-they-won't-they thing is lit! I hope I was able to convey the angsty sort of dynamic they got going on. I am really surprised there aren't more fics about these two.

Lenny and Carl walked briskly down the hall, excited to be getting out of work finally. The day had seemed to drag on and on, the minute hand on the nearby clock fixed at a certain point, unwilling to move any further. On top of it all, the two had been asked, nay bullied into staying late to do some overtime work by Mr. Burns. It seemed less and less people had been signing up for the night shift and overlap was needed between the 9-to-5'ers and their more pastier counterparts.

And so, at 7:30pm and not a second later, the best friends had found themselves racing down the hall towards freedom. Carl gingerly reached out and pushed the down arrow for the elevator. It's doors quickly swished open allowing them to venture inside. Carl selected the bottom floor and again the doors swished closed. He looked over as Lenny began leaning lazily against the wall.

"Man, I'm sure lookin' forward to that beer-" He started just as the elevator came to a thudding halt. "What was that?!" Lenny cried.

Carl glanced up at the dim lights at the top of the car. They were flickering. Well, that wasn't good. "We stopped movin'."

"What?! Oh god! We're gonna die in here!" His dark haired friend began to panic.

"Aw, just relax! Here... I'll just push the help button here."

He tapped the square, gray button but frowned when nothing happened. His eyes moved to the sign next to it which stated, 'Call is answered when light is flashing'. The light was most assuredly not flashing. In fact, it wasn't even illuminated. The button was probably broken. 

Lenny peered at him in distress. "Isn't it supposed to light up or something?"

Carl crossed his arms in contemplation and befuddlement. "Huh."

"Oh god! We're doomed!" Lenny cried.

"Lenny... "

The man began to hyperventilate. "I can't die in here! I'm so young!"

Carl watched his friend begin to panic with only slight concern. They'd get out of this. It was really no big deal. He stepped to him and grabbed both of his shoulders, shaking him slightly. "Lenny! It's alright! Look, we're safe in here. Nothin's gonna happen. We just need to stay calm and relax."

The man's dark eyes began to anxiously dart around the elevator car. He stared at the wooden texture of the walls and the pattern leftover from the trees the wood was cut from. They began dancing and turning into sinister type shapes. His knees buckled.

"Okay then!" Carl said resignedly*, catching the man as he nearly fainted. He eased him down to the ground and they sat leaning up against the back wall.

Lenny seemed to calm down a little, his eyes a focusing once more as Carl peered at him intently. He chuckled, embarrassed. “Heh... guess I... guess I fainted there a bit.”

“Yup. Sure did. You... alright now?”

“I think so.”

A moment or two passed and it became clear that no one was coming to help them. In fact, they were pretty certain that most of the plant's employees coming in for the night shift were already at their stations. An eerie quiet crept over the small car as both men took turns sighing exasperatedly and staring at the wooden interior paneling.

Lenny stretched out his legs to get more comfortable and idly began to pick at a loose thread in his pants. Carl focused all his energy onto the small 'HELP' button on the panel across from them.

“Man... this sucks! I sure was lookin' forward to that beer.”

Carl turned to his friend, nodding in agreement. “And I was lookin' forward to that steak!”

Lenny leaned his head back against the paneling, lolling his head to the side to smile at his friend. “I sure wish you'd come to Moe's with me. It's friday night! What have you got to do that's so important? Who you... who you going to dinner with?”

The question came out a little more jealous sounding than he'd like, a little too needy but whatever. At this rate, neither man would be getting what they wanted tonight.

Surprisingly, Carl turned away from the man's pleading look with a sort of indifference and cold. “No one really. It's not important. I just have dinner plans, okay?”

Silence fell over them once again, this time with Lenny feeling every bit of icy blast radiating from his best friend. He considered the title. Yeah, that was about right. If Carl wasn't his best friend well then, who was? Homer? Nah. They were good friends, sure, but Homer had an entire family and so many others in his life too. Besides, he'd always assumed Flanders was his best friend anyway.

Lenny sighed, going back to picking at the loose thread on his gray jeans. He didn't notice Carl's uneasiness. 

“So... let me ask you somethin'.” He began.

Turning to his friend again, Lenny took in the careful look of the man, the way his eyes seemed focused on his hands laying in his lap. Carl took a deep breath and glanced up at him. 

“Sure.” Lenny shrugged easily.

“Suppose you were given an opportunity to ask someone out and maybe you weren't sure they would definitely, absolutely be okay with it and say yes. Would ya do it?”

“Hmm... well I guess there's no way to know other than to do it! So yeah, probably!”

Carl smiled to himself nodding. “Good-”

“Then again,” Lenny interrupted. “you never know man. Maybe they'd be so upset that I asked them that it'd just ruin any sort of relationship I had with them. I mean, really bad, ya know?”

“Yeah, I think I-”

“Like, what if you were meant to be together, like you were soulmates but because you rushed things and went and asked them out too soon that you just completely ruined any chances of you ever being together!” He continued.

Carl began to feel queasy. “Okay, Lenny I got it.”

Lenny began to chuckle, shaking his head. “I mean, could you imagine? Just like, dying alone? Man!”

“Yeah, I got it! Thanks!” Carl said, angrily, crossing his arms across his chest in anger.

Smirking at the man, Lenny sat cross legged, facing him completely. “So who is it? You got a crush on someone! Is it the lady you're having dinner with tonight?”

“No. It's... no one. Forget it.”

“Aw, c'mon! I didn't mean to make you chicken out. Well... not exactly.”

Carl shook his head, bringing his knees up almost to his chest. “Nah, it's stupid of me to even consider. I mean... I should just stick to being alone. It's probably best that way anyways.”

“What? You're a real catch, Carl Carlson! How can you even say that?”

Carl shrugged and kept his eyes focused on the metallic, shiny material of the elevator doors.

“Any girl would be lucky to have you. Really.”

“Yeah... any girl, huh?”

Lenny shoved him a little playfully and when he didn't budge, shoved him again until he finally looked at him. He smiled. “I mean it.”

“Well... maybe I'll consider it. Someday.” Carl said shyly, returning the smile. “But uh... it's probably gonna take me a lot longer to just man up and do it.”

“As long as you don't get married to this chick and leave me behind. I mean, I'm all for you dating, just remember who was here first, huh?” Lenny shoved him again with his shoulder, his smile faltering just slightly.

“Oh, I know. Believe me, I know! You're always here, there and everywhere. I don't think we've spent a day apart since we were teenagers.”

“You say that like it's a bad thing.” Lenny shrugged, hugging his knees to his chest as well as he stared at the flicking lights above them which had miraculously stayed on despite the interruption in service.

Carl stared at him for a good, long moment just smiling. “Trust me, it's not.”

After a second or two, the elevator suddenly jolted, the lights above them shaking.

“Oh god! This is it!” Lenny screamed, cowering in terror.

The elevator began it's descent, finally coming to a stop at what was assumed to be the first floor. The doors swished open and the two men were greeted by their boss and Mr. Smithers.

“By golly, they did it!” Mr. Burns cried, clapping his hands together and then immediately wincing. “Ouch, that smarts!”

The two of them shakily stood up and got to their feet. They smiled appreciatively as they stepped out of the car hastily.

“You gentlemen alright?” Mr. Smithers asked, cocking an eyebrow.”

“Oh yeah, no biggie. Who doesn't want to spend their friday night trapped in an elevator with a known hypochondriac?”

“Hey!” Lenny complained as they turned on their heels and headed towards the exit. “Well, I guess you'll be heading to your date, huh?”

Carl smirked and shrugged. “Nah. I never had any date anyway. I was just gonna go home and reheat some leftover spaghetti.”

Lenny stopped dead in their tracks, in the middle of the dark parking lot to stare at the man incredulously. “But I thought? Oh... so you just didn't want to grab a beer with me?”

“No, no! It's not that, man. It's just... well... “ He trailed off, looking down at his feet. He took a deep breath and glanced back up into the man's deep brown eyes. “I just didn't think you'd want to keep hangin' out with me all the time. I mean, we do see each other a lot. Don't you get sick of that?”

“I... I really like spending time with you.” Lenny muttered sadly.

Carl beamed at him, relieved as he gushed out confidently, “Well, that's good 'cause I really like spending time with you too.” Then, a little less sure, “Uh... but uh in a completely hetero way though!”

Lenny laughed, obviously uncomfortable as he put his arm around the man's shoulders. “Right... right!”

Together, they walked off towards his car intent on hitting up Moe's for yet another friday night together.


End file.
